Thursday, May 27, 2010

T-shirt Hat

Here is the tutorial for my t-shirt hat from my guest post on Ucreate.

Since soccer started a few weeks ago, I've been wanting a new hat to hide my hair in the morning. I have a few hats already, but they are too dark and heavy for spring. I was thrilled when I came up with this solution and it actually worked.

All you need is an old t-shirt. I've cut several of my husbands ugly free t-shirts up this last week.

First thing you need to do is cut a long strip 4" wide though both layer of the shirt. The length will depend on the circumference of your head + an inch for the seam. I cut mine to be 21-1/2" long. *By cutting through both layers you should have two strips one on top of the other.

Now you have to cut a circle for the top. This involves a little math. Using your circumference you can find the diameter of the circle you'll need to cut.

c=d x ∏ (3.14)

So for example my circumference was 20.5" if I divide that by PIE the diameter is ∼6.5"(knit stretches a little so it doesn't have to be perfect). I added an inch to that as well for my seams. I drew and cut my 7-1/2" circle using a compass. You could also use a string tied to a pen or find a round object with the same diameter. Again I cut through both layers giving me two rounds, one on top of the other. Once they were cut, I sewed the two together with a 1/4" seam around the edge.

Next I sewed the two ends of my long strip together with a 1/2" seam, creating a very thin tube.

Then I pinned the circle to the top of my of my tube, with the seam on the outside.

I sewed around the top with a 1/2" seam, then flipped it right side out.

I made a pattern for the bill using a hat I already had. You can get the pattern HERE. I cut two layers of the bill and inserted a piece of heavy weight interfacing in between them. I made cut the interfacing to be a little smaller than the bill.

Then I sewed around the edges. I added a few more layers of stitching to make it stronger, and I liked the way it looked.

Next I inserted the bill in between the two layers of the cap. I lined up the middle of the bill with the middle of the font. The bill was about an inch and a half inside the bill when I pinned it in place. *Once it was pinned I looked in the mirror to make sure I liked the length of the bill. You can shorten it or pull it out more till you like it.

Now all that is left to do is sew around the base of the hat.

That's it for the cap. It only took me 30 minutes to make my first one. I consider myself a basic sewer and I had no problems. I love the look of the raw edges and that I didn't have to do any hemming.

For my embellishments I added flowers made with the extra pieces. I cut long strips of the knit about 1-1/2 inch thick. I twisted them and then rolled them like a lollipop.

I sewed them together by hand.

And then onto the cap.

Sometimes I get head aches from wearing a hat to long. This one was so comfortable I was able to wear it all day.

OK....I LOVE your blog!!! I just found it through Tip Junkie??? I believe (either that or crafty crow). Anyway, these hats are too cute. And for those of us with watermelon heads...perfect. Although this makes me giggle thinking of Michael on the Office where he says "It was getting a little chilly so I fashioned my hat back into my pants".

okay - I'm back, lol! I loved your idea, so when I came home from work I went straight to making one. So fun! Thank you for sharing. I talked about your post on my blog!http://amijustmom.blogspot.com/2010/05/homemade-hat-in-half-hour.html

Hi - I just discovered you! You make the coolest stuff - I am going back to read EVERYTHING. But especially, on this post - thank you for explaining those little flowers. I have never been able to make fabric flowers, you made a light bulb go off in my head! (oh yeah - the hats are pretty great, too...)

Just wanted to THANKS!! for the tutorial. I love to wear hats and my Dh loves how I look in them.;)But I have a larger than average noggin so I can never find a cure woman's hat that I can wear. Now I can make my own. This will be my fashion accessory for a long while I can tell.

I am so in love with this tut!!! I have made 2 with several people wanting me to make them some. I found a really cute Dr. Seuss shirt that I made one for my niece. You should come check it out on my blog!

You are Brilliant, and I can hardly wait! My spiritual beliefs require me hiding my hair, this will be so much easier to grab and if you can make it in half an hour I can do it in at least three hours!

Wow those are some wonderful hats you've made. Now, it's right to say that a t-shirt can be recycled into many things, options are limitless. In the past I have made bermudas out of them, made tote bags, many things can be done. Thanks for sharing those awesome ideas.

I had to let you know that I've had this 'pinned' forever, and finally got to making one-out of a sweater! I love it!You can see it here--Thanks for the instructions!http://craftingintherain.blogspot.com/2012/01/make-splash-sweaters.html

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